ASA 128th Meeting - Austin, Texas - 1994 Nov 28 .. Dec 02

3aPP9. The effect of a diver's glove on vibrotactile thresholds.

Appl. Res. Labs., The Univ. of Texas at Austin, P.O. Box 8029, Austin, TX 78713-8029

An experiment measuring vibrotactile thresholds in human subjects was performed. Vibration thresholds at frequencies between 100 and 400 Hz under normal conditions were compared with other researchers' published results. To examine how diving gear would affect a sea diver's vibratory sensitivity, vibrotactile thresholds were determined on the middle phalanx of subjects with and without diver's gloves. Two kinds of diver's gloves were tested, one designed for cold water and the other for warm water. It was established that diver's gloves do have an effect on vibrotactile thresholds, and that the specific type of glove (cold water or warm water) alters the normal shape of the threshold curves in different ways.